Trolley base



L. F. BURNHAM ET AL TROLLEY BASE July 14, 1925. 1,545,735

Filed May 24, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet "l mlwmjw NVENTORS WITNESSES: Z F B hamK Felix. d. I Q C Jul 14, 1925.

L. F. BURNHAM ET AL mom, BASE Filed M124, 1921 2 Sheets-Shoat 2 VENTORS.

ham 5 I 'X u &F C C m a m HF un. k vhN mounting the base on a platform or other Patented July 14, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT'OFFICE.

LELAND r. BURNHAM,OII"FAIR1ORT, New YORK, AND FRANK o. FELIX, or AMBRIDGE,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOBS TO B. D} NUTTALIJ' COMPANY, A CORPORATION. OF

PENNSYLVANIA.

. k TR LL Y BAsE.

Application filed May 24, 1921. Serial No. 472,057.

To all whom it may. concern: 7 I

Be it known that we, LELAND F. BURNHAM, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Fairport, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, and FRANK C. FE- LIX,-L citizen ofthe United Statesyand a resident of Ambridge, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania,have in vented a new and useful Improvement in Trolley Bases, of which the following is a specification. I

Our invention relates to trolley bases and particularly to means whereby trolley poles are supported for movement in both vertical and horizontal planes and to means for maintaining the poles undertension.

Oneobject of our invention is to provide a base extending a minimum distance above the roof of a car and which s adapted topivotally support the trolley pole from a pointapproximately at the center. of the car roof, whether there be one or two bases mounted upon the car;

Anotherobjeot .of our, invention is to a provide a base that is adapted to support the trolley pole in such manner that the maximum range of movement is obtainable between the roof of the car and a trolley wire without employing. a pole of comparatively great length and without the necessity of superstructure, and particularly to provide a device of the-form wherein two bases may be employed for a single car without sacrificing any of the, advantages herein enumerated.

A further object of our invention is'to provide means whereby the pole is main! tained under substantially constantpres sure against the trolley wire, regardless of variations in distance betweentheroof of the car and the wire, and to provide means for cushioning the pole against shocks when the trolley wheel. accidentally-leaves the wire.

Still another object of our invention is the provision of a trolley base possessing the advantages ofv accessibility and inter changeability and comprising means for re-.

taining lubricating material in the bearings; means for excluding dust and other foreign matter from the bearings; and improved means for conducting the current from the I trolley pole to the leads of the motors.

Heretofore, difiiculty has been experienced position 1 its lower position;

7 in connection with cars having comparatively low roofs, such as safety cars, in pro viding a trolley base that would permit of" a proper" range of movement by the pole, between theroof of the car and the trolley Wire, without either employing poles of we have designed the apparatusshown in theaccompany ing drawing herein.

Figure 1 1s a view, in sideelevation, of

a trolley car in which our invention is embodied; i l

Fig. 2 is a plan view, of the trolley pole and the base, showing the pole in retracted Fig.3 is a sideelevationalview; in section, of the device of Fig. 2; Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of themechanism for'loc'king the trolley pole in partially.

Fig. 6 is a detail View, in longitudinal section, of a portion of the pole and its socket; I i I Fig. 7 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows VII-VII of Fig. 6, and

- Fig. 8 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3, but illustrating a modifiedfformv of connector: for conducting the current from a rotatable portion of the base to a stationary portion thereof, Y I

In Fig.1, we-have shown a trolley car 9, upon which a'pair of bases 10 are mounted and each'base serves to support a pole 11 that co-operates with a trolley wire 12 in 9 the usual manner, Retaining hooks 13 are provided forniaintaining the poles ing retracted positions when they are not in. use, one pole being employed when the car is traveling in one direction and the other pole being employed when it is traveling in the opposite direction, as is common with cars that are provided with two poles. v

Referringfnow' more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, the baseconsists of a bottompor tion 14, that is secured to the roof of the car by means of bolts 15. The member 14 is provided with, a grooved portion 16 in which a series of steel balls 17 are adapted to roll, the groove being disposed circumferi A swivel member 220i? annularformfprovided with grooved upper and 1 lower s ur-' faces: that cooperate with ball bearings 17 threaded studs serve as attach-ing members to maintain the cover member 19 in position on the base member 14,.nuts2l be ing employed in orderto maintain the cover .memberfl-Q and the base memberlfle in properly SPacedjrela-tions; v

f and 23, respectively,is interposed between thercover member 19 and the-basemember 14. *Theswivel member 22 is rotatab'le wlt-h respect to the members 14 and 12 and sup p orts' the trolley pole and tensionmg means,

in a manner which will now be described.

A yoke member 24, that hastongueandgrooveengagement with the swi el member cumterence thereof and is provided -with holes through its ends that aline with holes in a lug on the swivel member, The

yoke is secured to the swivel member by I means-of bolts 26 that pass through the lugs just referred to.

Stop members 14a and 22a are provided onthe base: member l iian d theswivel member 22, respectively, 'in order to" prevent "complete;rotation by the swivel member.

The yoke 24 is provided with an extended" portion 27 through which pivotpin 28 extendsforthe purposeof supporting a polesocket member 29. Theyloke member24 is provided also with apair of lugs 30 through which pivot pins 31 "extend'gjfo-r the "purpose of supporting a pair of rods 32to which tension springs are'connected; lfhefcover" member 119'. is provided with an" opening 35' through-- which lubricant may be poured. It

will be note d-that the swivel member 22 is, so formed that the overflow 'o-tflubricant will flow down into the bearing therebeneat-h, and that the cli'annel 16 of the 'b.e'ariinj; member 14 retains the lubricant and I tain lubricant: therein.

pr'even ts itfrom flowing over the carro'ot, Furthermore, it will be observed {that the members 14 and 22 have upstanding portions attheir respective peripheries which overlap adjacent members and thereby exclude dust iromthe bear ngs j and also re- T-he pole socket 29"is provided with a-cutout -portion 36 intermediate its ends, and,

adj acent to its outer end, it: is hasa longitudinal recess "87 intowhiclr-apole-38 ex tends.

' "The pole is grooved, asindicated in :Fig. 7 ,thegroovesco-operating with lugs 139 011 the inner surface of the polesocket :29 in oi'del to insure that thetrolleywheel more clearly'in' Figs. 4 and 5.

40. will have pro er alinement with the trolley-wire 12.

he pole socket 29 is split adjacent to its outer end and is provided -with clamping .members A1 to draw the split portions toward one another, 1 thereby securely clamping trolley pole 38 in 'place.

=A nut 42 is nonrotatably' supported within the opening 37, in position to be enrgaged by one end of an adjusting screw 43,

the other end of the adjusting screw having tl1reade d engagement with a cros'shead 4A 3 that ertends through the opening -86 of the pole socket -29. Y-The cr'o'sshe'ad 44: has a "sliding engagement with the pole socket 29 and is maintained place therein by means ofp1ns l5. The crosshea-d 44 1s grooved adjacent to its outer end s and supportsone 'tensionofthesprings33.' 22, extends substant ally one-haltthe C11- 7 Thepole socket'29 is' provided with a plate memberfl thatis secured thereto by rivets 48., The plate 4:7 is providedwith a pair of recessesl i) to which conductors 50 are connected. The other ends of the conductors-50 are, attached to the plate 51 that 'f'From-thev current may be conducted from the trolley wheeltothe motor wlthout passing through any theb earing members, thus. providing a more efiicient transmission of the current n v d n pittin o the b b nss I The pole so,cket29 isprovidedalso with a pair ofjears 5.5riveted thereto, as shown The b P rtion.lii rp dedwi h a a 56- T rinem e w and 6 a rr 'fera d f t reception of a pln 57 and serve as retain ng members for. the trolleypole, when the trol- "le v pole is' lockedlinretracted position. By lockmgthepole, socket down, the base may be more convenientlyremoved from the ear or'the pole from thepole socket.

It will be observed that the meansfforate s time 1 t e e roof. a l a b t een-the per phery and e ce te h of, leaving the car'roof surrounding the base clear. of obstructions, and that the troll'ey pole and the tensioningsprin gs lie across "the: top of the base.

foregoing,- it will be, seen that 1 1 Furthermore. the location of the pivotal supports for theipole and springs at the front ofthe basepermitSpf the base being-placed onthecar roofat a pointwhich' fw1l1 br ng the said pivotal supports approximately ,above center of lthe Iroof, thus 'permitting the mounting of two bases on "a single-roof in such a manner as to avoid interference with one another and, at the same time,'permitting the employment of a pole that does not extend over the root of the car but which still has a relatively arge range of movement in a vertical plane.

The adjusting screw 43 is employed to place the springs under proper tension and, at a given adjustment, the tension exerted on the trolley pole will be substantially the same at all positions.

Thus, when the pole is in the retracted position shown in the drawings, it will be seen that the arrangement of the pivotal points is such that the spring is then under.

its greatest tension, but the angle of the line of force with respect to the pivot pin 28 is comparatively small. As the pole is per-- mitted to advance under the action of the springs, the-teusional force of the springs decreases, but the angular direction of force with respect to the pivot 28 increases proportionately, so that when the trolley wheel has reached the trolley wire the effective tension on the pole is substantially the same '13 when the pole was in its retracted position. Therefore, it is clear that, as the trolley wheel rises and falls by reason of variation in the distance between the trolley wire and the roof of the car, the tension on the wheel will be substantially constant, thus elimina ing the tendency to create arcs.

Should the trolley wheel accidentally become disengaged from the trolley wire, it

will, of course, advance still farther, in a vertical plane, until the cross-head 44 is substantially in alinement with the 28 and 31. If the movement continues,the springs will be again elongated, and thus serve as buffers, to restrain further movement of the trolley pole.

In the formof device shown in Fig. 8, the.

shunt members and 51 are dispensed, with and shunt member is provided. At its outer end, the flexible shunt 60 is connected to a brush member 61 that is yieldingly held in engagement with the swivel member 22 by means of a spring 62. Connection is established between the yoke member 24 and the pole socket 29 by a flexible shunt member 65. In this case, current is conducted through the pole socket 29, shunt 65, yoke 24-, and the shunt member 60, to a terminal 63 to which a motor lead may be attached. In this form of construction, no stop members are provided, thus permitting a eo1nplete rotation by the swivel member as distinguished from the partial rotation that is permitted by construction of Figs. 2 and 3.

If desired, the yoke member 24 may be dispensed with and the extensions 27 and 30 for supporting the spring members and the pole socket, respectively, may be unitary with the swivel member 22.

Various other modifications may be made in the invention Without departing from pivots the scope thereof, as defined in the'acoom panying claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In combination, a trolleybase, a rotatable member supported thereby, a tro lley pole member, a pole actuating member disposed alongside the said pole member, means on the rotatable member for support ing the trolley pole member, means on the rotatable member for supporting the actuating member, said two meansoccupying different horizontal planes and tie said trolley pole member being provided at its outer end with a socket for the reception of a trolley pole, a supporting member for the outer end of the said actuating member, and an ad justable connection between said actuating member and the pole supporting member, whereby the tension exerted upon the trolley pole may be varied. y

2. In combinatioma trolley base, a retatable member supportedthereby, a trolley pole member, a pair of pole-actuating members, means on the rotatable member for supporting the trolley pole member, and;

means on the rotatablemember for supporting the actuating members, said two means occupying different horizontal planes, the' said trolley pole member being provided, at its outer end", with a socket for the reception of a trolley pole, and the actuating members being disposed along opposite sides the pole memben,

3. In a trolley-polesupporting structure, the combination of rotatable member, a, pole, a pole-actuating member disposed alongside the pole, means on the rotatable member tor supporting the pole, and means on the rotatable member for supporting the pole-actuating member, both of said means extending beyond the periphery of the retatable member adjacent to a point farthest removed from the free end of the pole.

4. In a trolley-pole-supporting structure, the combination of a rotatable member, a pole, a pair of pole-actuating members, means on the rotatable member for supporting said last named members, and means on the rotatable member, adjacent to the first named means, for supporting the pole, the said supporting means and the parls'carried thereby, being so disposed that the pole and the actuating members extend reaiwvardly across the top of the rotatable member in side-byside relation.

5. In combination, a trolley base, a lo tatable member supported thereby, a trolley pole, a pair of pole-actuating members and means located adjacent to the periphery of the rotatable member for supporting the pole and the pole-actuating members, said supporting means, the pole, and the actuating members being so disposed as to normally lie across the top of the rotatable member, in side-by-side relation.

'6. In combination, in a trolley-pole-supporting structure, a base member, a rotatable pole-supporting member carried thereby, a cover member lying above the rotatable member, anti-friction bearings between the upper and lower faces of the r0- tatable member and the cover and base members, respectively, means for confining lubricating fluid within the upper bearing, and means whereby overflow of such lubricant is directed into the bearing at'the un der side of the rotatable member.

7. A trolley-pole structure comprising, in combination, a pole member, a pivotal support for the pole member, an actuating member, a pivotal support for one end of the, actuating member, and means for securing the other end of the actuating memher to the pole member, the pivotal support for the actuating member lying in a plane above the first named support and in substantially vertical 'alinement therewith, whereby the torque exerted by the actuating member decreases as the movement of force of the wire pressure and the leverage o' f the pole member decrease.

8. In a trolley-pole structure, the combi nation of a pole member, a pair of actuating members disposed, in substantially side-byside relation with the pole member, a pivotal support for each of said members,'a cross-head for supporting the outer ends of the actuating members, and means carried by the pole member, at a point removed from its pivot support, for adjusting the position of the crosshead to vary the force of the actuating members.

9. In a trolley-pole structure, the combination of a pole member, a pair of actuating members disposed in substantially side-byside relation with the pole member, a pivotal support for each of said members, a crosshea-d for supporting the outer ends of the actuating members,and means carried by the pole member at a point removed from its pivot support for adjusting the position of the crosshead to vary the force of the actuating members, said crosshead being slidably supported by the pole member invdependently of the said adjusting means.

10. A trolley-pole structure comprising, in combination, a-pole member, apivotal support for the pole member, a helical spring adapted to normally exert tension on the pole, one end of the spring being fixedly secured to a member located above the said pivotal support and the other end thereof being fixedly secured tothe pole member adjacent its outer end, said spring serving as a buifing member when the angle between the spring and the pole exceeds a predetermined amount;

11. A trolley-pole structure comprising, in combination, a pole member, a pivotal support for the pole member, a helical spring adapted to normally exert tension on the pole, one end of the spring being fixedly secured to a member located above the said pivotal support, and the other end thereof being fixedly secured to the pole member adjacent its outer end, said spring serving as a butting member Whenthe angle between the spring and the pole exceeds a predetermined amount and to exert tension in a re verse direction when the pole has advanced past a predetermined point.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 28th day of April, 1921. Y

LELAND F. BURNHAM.

FRANK o. FELIX. 

